Sweet Thunder
by AnneAlysse
Summary: The new girl at Kadic Academy is tough, fearless, and scary as all get out, but Odd has taken a liking to her. Her past is a mystery, though. A mystery that could just turn all of the Lyoko warriors against her if they were to learn about it...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"XANA's been being awfully quiet lately," Jeremy informed his two male friends as they waited for Yumi and Aelita by the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I know. Why do you think that is?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "I'm not sure, but-" He was cut off by a call of, "Hey, guys! Sorry we're late!" Yumi ran over to the group of guys, panting when she and Aelita stopped in front of them.

"Where have you two been?" Jeremy asked as he looked from one panting girl to the other.

"Somewhere," was Yumi's simple reply. "Let's just go to lunch. I'm starving." The black-haired girl casually entered the cafeteria with Aelita.

The guys stood there for a moment, then decided to follow the girls in.

"Hey, Ulrich, who's that?" Odd asked when he noticed an unfamiliar person sitting at a table, alone.

The girl he was referring to looked utterly bored. Her straight red hair was layered, the longest part reaching her waist, although that wasn't easily seen because her hair was currently held back in pigtails by a couple of white ribbons. Her eyes, which were a pretty grayish-blue color despite the fact that everyone else in this damned show has black or brown eyes, were currently focused on an open book she had sitting on the table next to a tray of untouched food. She was wearing a pleated black miniskirt, a plain white T-shirt, and a pair of black boots, all of which only added to her natural badass appearance. She looked like she would be taller than Yumi by at least two inches when standing, making her even more intimidating to all of the short people at the school.

"That's the new girl, Layla Dougherty," Yumi answered before Ulrich could say anything. "She's been in all of my classes so far today."

"Maybe we should go sit with her. She looks lonely," Aelita said when she saw the girl.

"Yeah," the others agreed.

All five of them quickly got their lunches and walked over to where Layla was sitting.

"Hi, Layla," Yumi said, smiling brightly at the redhead, who merely looked away from her book and stared at the black-haired girl. "Do you mind if we sit with you?" Yumi asked after a few moments of silence, getting a bit freaked out by Layla's cold stare.

"Not at all. It's not like I own the table." The girl was tense, and Yumi realized the reason for that only when Layla's gray-blue eyes wandered over to the others.

As she and her friends sat down, Yumi began to introduce her companions to the untrusting new student. "Well, these are my friends, Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita. Guys, this is Layla, the girl that transferred here from a school in the United States."

A few nervous hellos could be heard from the people sitting at the table, and Layla relaxed ever so slightly. She gave Yumi's friends a small smile while closing her book and saying, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Odd said, feeling more comfortable now that the redhead didn't look like she was ready to claw someone's eyes out. "So, why'd ya come over here to Kadic Academy?"

Layla's expression grew cold once again, her icy gaze focused solely on Odd. "For reasons I'll probably never tell you." That being said, everyone fell silent and began eating their food.

"Oh, look at the time. I have to be going now. It was nice meeting you, Layla," Ulrich said before rushing out of the cafeteria in order to escape the tension Odd's simple question and Layla's vague response had created.

"Yeah... Same here... Bye, Layla." Jeremy followed Ulrich quickly.

It took about three minutes for all of the people to make up excuses and disappear, leaving Layla all alone once again. The girl sighed and got to her feet.

"Why didn't they just say, 'You're creepy, so I'm leaving'? Wouldn't that have been more simple?" she asked herself while grabbing her book and walking out of the cafeteria.

After a few more minutes, it was time for Layla's next class, so that's where she went, all alone...

The day passed quickly, and soon, classes were over.

"I'm on my way, Jeremy," Layla heard Ulrich say as he ran into the park, oblivious to the girl walking slowly past him.

The red-haired, ice-cold badass ignored this occurrence despite her curiosity and continued walking to her room. She stopped just before reaching her door, though, seeing as a small dog was standing in her way, barking its little head off. She cocked her head at the animal.

"What do you want?" she asked. The dog simply barked one more time before turning and running off. "Hey! Wait!" Layla instantly followed the creature.

The redhead was led down to a boiler room filled with some sort of poisonous gas. The dog stopped by the door that led into the room and began barking once again.

"What? Is there something in there you need?" The girl's gray-blue eyes widened in understanding after a moment. "Your owner." She had no idea who this dog belonged to, but she went into the gas-filled room, covering her mouth and nose with her hand, anyway.

The gas filling the room made it hard to see, but Layla eventually found the person she was looking for when she tripped over their legs.

She got to her knees after hitting the floor and went wide-eyed once more when she saw- "Odd."

The tall, pale girl tugged on the unconscious boy's sleeve, trying to wake him up, but her efforts were all futile.

"Damn it, Odd," she muttered after a few seconds before easily throwing the blond over her shoulder and getting to her feet.

Her vision began to grow blurry as she headed for the door, but she kept on running.

The dog stopped barking when Layla came out of the room with Odd, only to start barking again when it noticed a large figure heading toward them through the fog.

"What's wro-" She was cut off by a blow to the head that sent her to the floor, nearly knocking her out.

She dropped Odd when she hit the ground, then winced and got to her knees again, quickly looking back to see who had hit her. She growled when she saw Jim. Something wasn't right about him... And his eyes... They looked...strange...

"Jim? What the hell are you doing?!" the girl questioned as she stood and turned to fully face the P.E. instructor.

All she received in response to this question was a grunt and an attack. Jim's fist was heading for the redhead's face. She dodged with ease, then turned and attempted to slam her foot into the older man's stomach. Her eyes widened yet again when her leg went right through her opponent.

"What the hell?!" Jim grabbed her throat before she could get away from him. She struggled violently as she was lifted into the air, kicking at her attacker and clawing his hands.

The dog was biting Jim's leg now, trying to make him let go, but all the man did was tighten his grip on Layla's throat and kick the dog away.

The redhead, getting a tad bit pissed off, growled and slammed both of her feet into Jim's face, causing him to drop her. She quickly flipped backwards and landed on her feet.

Deciding that it'd be better to run than fight, she threw Odd over her left shoulder again, tucked the dog securely under her right arm, then turned and ran.

As Layla sprinted through the building, she noticed that there were teachers and students passed out everywhere. The entire school was completely silent.

The redhead ran out of the building, beginning to slow slightly now that the poisonous gas she had breathed in was taking effect.

Jim was right behind her. She could hear him coming.

But the weakness in her limbs and her blurry vision forced her to slow to a walk, giving her no choice but to go hide somewhere until help arrived.

Layla went into the science building and eventually found a place to hide. She ended up in an empty classroom, sitting behind a desk that kept her hidden from anyone looking through the door.

She pressed her back against the wooden surface, put the dog down beside her, and carefully set Odd down between her legs, wrapping her arms around the unconscious boy so he wouldn't fall over and alert someone to their presence. Then, she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed as the sound of footsteps gradually moved closer to the door. But before she could find out whether she had been found or not, she passed out, still holding Odd close to her in a protective manner.

Odd woke up a while later and looked around groggily. All he could figure out at the moment was that he was in a classroom in the science building.

As he slowly began to become more alert, he realized that someone had their pale, scarred arms wrapped around him and that Kiwi, his faithful doggy, was unconscious next to someone's equally pale and scarred leg.

The boy cocked his head at the legs that were resting on the floor to either side of his own legs, then noticed the long red hair spilling over his shoulders.

"Layla?" he said softly when he figured out who the hair and legs belonged to. The girl groaned and slowly lifted her head off of Odd's shoulder.

"I take it Jim hasn't gotten us yet. That's good," she said sleepily. It took her a moment, but she eventually realized that she was pretty much holding Odd hostage and quickly let him go, blushing ever so slightly. "Sorry," she muttered, looking away.

"It's fine. Thanks for saving me," Odd said, smiling.

"No problem. But now what do we do? Everyone else in the school is unconscious and Jim could still be waiting for us," Layla stated, looking back at Odd, no longer blushing.

"We need to call Jeremy and see if he needs any help," the blond boy stated as he got to his feet.

"Alright," Layla said with a nod even thought she was confused.

Odd began digging through his pockets, trying to find his phone. He stopped searching after a moment and looked over at Layla.

"I think I dropped my phone back in the boiler room," he told the girl, who simply nodded in reply. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black cell phone.

"Use mine, then," she said as she held the phone out to Odd. The blond boy nodded and took the phone.

"Thanks." He quickly dialed the number, then began speaking to Jeremy. "Hey, Jeremy. Do you need any help over there?"

"Nope. Aelita has just deactivated the tower. I'm about to initiate a return trip," Layla heard Jeremy reply.

"But...Layla won't remember anything if you do that..." Odd stated.

"Yeah. So?" Jeremy asked.

"She..." Odd hesitated, then simply shook his head. "Never mind. Go ahead."

The return trip was started, and Layla soon found herself walking into Kadic Academy for what was supposedly the first time ever, totally oblivious to everything that had just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"She saved you?" Yumi said questioningly as she and the others went through the line and got their lunches, just like they had the first time they lived through that day.

"Yeah. She was even nice enough to keep Kiwi safe while I was out," Odd replied with a nod, glancing over at Layla, who was once again alone, reading her book and not eating.

"We should definitely sit with her again, then," Ulrich stated.

"Yeah. But this time, don't ask any questions," Jeremy told Odd.

The boy dressed all in purple and yellow nodded, smiling. "Okay!"

Aelita was the one that led the way over to Layla's table this time, stepping back when they reached the place so Yumi could greet the quiet redhead.

"Hi, Layla. These are my friends, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Aelita. Would you mind if we sat here?"

Layla looked up and smiled slightly at Yumi and her nervous-looking friends. "Not at all. It's not like I own the table or anything."

Everyone quickly grew less nervous and sat down, Odd sitting across from Layla while Yumi sat down beside her. The others just sat in random places around the table.

"Sooo...Do you like dogs?" Odd asked after a few seconds, ignoring the glares he was getting from his friends for asking a question. This question didn't cause Layla to become a bitch or anything, though. Instead, it made her smile a slight bit more.

"Yeah, but I'm really more of a cat person."

"Oh. Interesting," Odd said before beginning to eat his lunch.

Layla cocked her head at the weirdass blond, but remained silent.

A few more minutes of silence passed, then Ulrich said, "Uh oh. Here comes Sissi."

"Sissi?" Layla questioned. "Who's-"

"Well, well, well. Looks like your little group has added another dorky member." Layla found out that Sissi was a mean black-haired girl that was about as smart as she was pretty, and in Layla's opinion, she wasn't really all that good-looking...

Yumi glared at the mean girl and opened her mouth to say something, but Layla spoke before she could. "Dorky? The only dorky people I see here are you and your two lameass friends. Now, tell me. Do you have to pay them to follow you around all day, or are they just too stupid to find someone better to stalk?"

Sissi glared at Layla, who gazed at the black-haired girl calmly with those cold gray-blue eyes of hers as Odd, Ulrich, and the others laughed.

"Yeah, Sissi. I've been wondering that for a long time now," Odd said after a moment, still laughing.

Sissi simply growled and walked away, her two groupies following her like the obedient little nerds they were. The rest of lunch was uneventful, and soon, it was time for class.

A few hours later, classes were over, and everyone was free to go do whatever it is they did after school. In Layla's case, that was wander aimlessly around the campus.

Sadly, before she got to do this, she bumped into someone and found herself on the ground.

Looking up at who had she had run into, she realized that it wasn't really that sad. Hell, it wasn't even a little bit sad. And the explanation for this rapid change in emotions is a simple three-letter-long name.

Odd.

Not like Layla was willing to admit that, of course.

"Watch it," she muttered as she got to her feet and picked up her backpack, which she had dropped when she fell.

Odd smiled nervously at her. "Sorry."

"You should be." Layla brushed some invisible dust off of her skirt, then turned to walk away, but Odd quickly followed her when she began to walk.

"So, how do you like it here at Kadic?" he asked, his smile a little less nervous now.

All he got in reply was a shrug from the pretty redhead.

"Oh...That's good, I guess..." When Layla didn't say anything, he questioned, "Do you have any plans for the rest of today?"

"No."

"Oh. Would you like a tour of the school, then? You can't possibly know where everything is yet."

Layla was actually a bit surprised by the offer. "Um...Sure."

"Great! Let's go." Odd grabbed the redhead's hand and dragged her off to begin that lovely tour of the school.

Twenty minutes later, Odd led Layla up a hallway and pointed to a door while saying, "And that's my and Ulrich's room." He gestured to another door as he walked toward it. "This is Jeremy's room." He opened the door and exclaimed with obviously feigned shock, "Oh! Look! It's my friends!" Dropping the act of surprise, he looked at Layla and said, "Well, let's go in and talk to them." He walked into the room and Layla was forced to follow, seeing as the short boy still had a hold of her hand.

"Hey, Odd, Layla," Yumi greeted the two people, smiling at both of them.

"What are you guys up to?" Ulrich asked.

"Hi, guys. I was just giving Layla here a tour of the school," Odd stated while releasing the girl's hand and closing the door.

"I see. So how do you like the school, Layla?" Aelita questioned, looking at the girl she was speaking to.

Layla's reply was a simple shrug, just like the one she had given Odd before.

"Well, at least you don't hate it," Jeremy said, watching as Layla simply nodded.

Odd flopped on the bed beside Ulrich and the others. "Make yourself at home," he told Layla with a lazy smile.

All Layla did to 'make herself at home' was drop her backpack on the floor.

"So, what are you guys doing?" Odd asked his friends after watching Layla for a moment.

Before anyone could answer, Layla's cell phone rang. She pulled the slim black phone out of her backpack, glared down at the name that had appeared on the caller ID, then said, "Excuse me," before leaving the room.

She closed the door behind her quietly, then flipped the clamshell phone open.

"What the hell do you want, Mom?" she asked the woman on the other end of the line flatly.

"Money." The girl's mother wasn't even bothering to sweet-talk her daughter into anything.

"How much do you need this time?" Layla all but growled into her phone, unaware that the Lyoko warriors were listening intently from where they were sitting in Jeremy's room.

"Two, three hundred dollars, tops."

"Go fuck yourself, Mother," the redhead spat. "I'm not giving you any more money."

"I take care of you for over ten years, and _this_ is the thanks I get?!" Layla's mother yelled, outraged.

"You think you took care of me?!" Layla screamed right back at the woman. "All you've done my entire life is get drunk and expect me to pay your bills! How the hell is that 'taking care of me'?!"

"That's a lie! I've done a lot for you!"

"Save it, bitch. I don't care." And with that, Layla hung up, tears of rage streaming down her cheeks. With an angry shriek, she whipped around and slammed her fist into the wall. She stood there, sobbing with her fist resting against the wall, until she noticed that Jeremy's door was open and everyone was watching her, concern in their eyes.

Miss Dougherty pushed past them with a pathetic sniffle, picked up her book bag, then turned and left the room with a murmur of, "Sorry I ruined your little gathering, guys."

"Wait, Layla." Odd reached after the girl, wanting her to stop, but she was already running up the hallway. A moment later, she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was eight-thirty at night, and Layla was sitting in the corner of her dark room, her knees pulled up to her chest and her tear-stained face buried in them. She was currently listening to the sounds of Aelita quietly knocking on the doors around her room, asking each person that answered if they knew where the crying girl was. Eventually, someone was able to point her in the right direction, and she knocked on Layla's door.

"Layla? Are you in there?"

"No," Layla answered with a quiet sniffle. "Nobody's home."

Aelita ignored the girl's pathetic attempt at a bit of humor and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Just a bit too emotional for my own good. I've never been one to let my emotions show."

"I've noticed."

Both of them were silent for a moment, then Layla questioned, "Why do you care, anyway? I'm not your problem."

"You're right. You're not my problem. You're my _friend_. So will you at least open the door and let me in so I can make sure you're okay?"

Layla couldn't help but smile a bit. She got to her feet and walked over to the door, trying to wipe away what remained of her tears as she opened it.

Aelita hurried into the room and Layla quickly closed the door.

"You don't look all right to me," the pink-haired girl stated after studying Layla in the dark for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"My mother's a bitch. That's what's wrong," was Layla's half-snarled reply. "Thanks for your concern and everything, but will you please go away and mind your own business?"

Aelita shook her head and turned on the lights. "The others and I are all worried about you. I'm not leaving until I know exactly what's wrong with you and how to fix it."

Layla glared at Aelita. "You can't fix it. No one can. Now, please, just leave me alone."

Aelita shook her head again and continued to pry. "Tell me why your mother supposedly hates you, and I might consider leaving."

"She just does."

"I need more detail than that."

Layla sighed, exasperated, and elaborated. "My mother isn't exactly the motherly type. The only reason she ever tolerated me was because I've always been the one with the money. Now she's pissed at me because I purposely had myself shipped off to France, which means she might actually have to get off of her ass and do some work for once."

"How have you always been the one with the money?" Aelita questioned, looking curious.

"Well, I haven't _always_ been the one with the money, but I have been raking in a decent amount of cash ever since I was old enough to run a-" The redhead stopped dead and glared at Aelita once again, half blaming her for causing the near slip of information.

"Ever since you were old enough to run what?"

"Nothing. I've told you what you wanted to know, so leave."

"But I still don't know how to fix it."

"I've already told you! You _can't_ fix it!"

"I at least want to try!"

"Well, don't! There's no point in trying if you don't have the slightest chance of succeeding!"

"Come on, Layla! Just tell me what we can do to help! Everyone's worried about you! Odd, Jeremy, Ulrich, Yumi, all of us! Why won't you let us help?!" Aelita looked on the verge of tears, but Layla ignored the girl's obvious need to help and continued to argue.

"Because I don't need help!"

"Everyone needs help sometimes!"

"Well, I don't need help right now!"

"Yes, you do! Just accept it and let us help!"

"No! Now leave!"

"I'm not going to leave until you let me help you!"

"Go the hell away!"

Aelita found Layla's fist heading toward her face before either of them could really register what was happening. At the last possible moment, Layla turned and hit her bedroom wall instead, the force of the blow nearly cracking the surface.

"Please," Layla whispered, her fist still resting against the wall, her red bangs hiding her eyes, "go away."

"Layla, I-"

"Go," the redhead ordered, her voice louder than before. "I'm already halfway into a rage blackout, Aelita, and I don't want to hurt you. Thank you for wanting to help me, but there's really nothing you can do."

Aelita stared at Layla for a moment, then nodded and left silently, closing the door quietly behind her after flipping the lights off.

Once Layla was sure Aelita was out of hearing range, she fell to her knees, rested her head against the wall, and sobbed, hating herself for nearly slipping again. She fell asleep half an hour later, too exhausted to stay awake.

The next morning, Layla awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing.

She sat up groggily and crawled over to her bag, which was laying on the floor beside her bed. She found her thin black phone clear at the bottom of the bag, of course, and it took her a few seconds to wrestle it out from under all of the other crap in there.

"Hello?" she said questioningly to the person on the other end of the line, not even bothering to check the caller ID. Biiig mistake...

"You still haven't changed your number, Layla?" a boy's voice asked in reply. "Not a very smart move."

Layla found herself fully awake now, her ass meeting the floor when she fell back in surprise.

"Now I can access your entire contacts list, and you know what that means." The boy, a genius when it came to electronics of all kinds, chuckled, and Layla gulped.

"Don't, Alex. Please, don't," Layla whispered into the phone.

"You can't run from your past, Layla. You can't run from _us_. We told you that if you left, if you tried to escape your duty, tried to run from what you promised to do, we'd hunt you down. You're the best we have, and we can't let you go. Now, you should probably tell your little friends that you're leaving before we let them know what you are. If we don't see you coming to the airport within the next few hours, we _will_ tell them, and we _will _use force to bring you back. Understand?"

Layla leaned against the side of her bed, trembling and arguing with herself in her head. She gulped again, then managed to speak. "I won't go back, Alex. I won't let myself become that...that _thing_ I was again. I'll die before I go back."

Alex was silent for a moment, then he ended the conversation with a simple, "We'll see." He hung up, and Layla copied him a moment later.

She pulled herself up onto the bed, put her elbows on her knees, buried her face in her hands, and muttered, "Fuck. How am I going to get out of this one?"

"Hey, Layla," Yumi greeted the redhead cheerfully at the beginning of the first class they had together.

"Hello, Yumi," Layla replied softly, staring down at her desk, looking troubled.

"Is something wrong?" Yumi asked while sitting down beside the girl.

Layla bit her lip, having a quick mental debate, then she looked over at Yumi. "There's something I need to tell you and the others."

Yumi's expression filled with worry. "What is it?"

"I...I can't tell you now," Layla stated, looking away and fidgeting nervously. "Do you think you and the others would be able to meet me in the park tonight, just after sunset?"

"Of course."

"All right. I'll see you then."

Yumi stood and nodded, then moved to her usual spot near the front of the class, wondering what Layla wanted to tell her and the others.

Layla talked to no one throughout the rest of the day, vanishing at lunch and directly after school. She waited in her room until almost ten minutes before sunset, then she went out to the park to wait for the others.

What she thought would be a simple task, walking outside and waiting for some people, turned out to be quite complicated. There were...obstacles. Obstacles in the form of three guys, two of whom were blonds that looked to be at least a little bit older than Layla. The third one looked to be the same age as her, with short brown hair and dark brown eyes. They were all waiting for her right at the edge of the park.

"Layla, did I not tell you to be at the airport by now?" the third male said, his voice sounding exactly like the voice of the person Layla had spoken to over the phone earlier that day. The other two were standing behind him to either side, smacking lead pipes against their palms threateningly in the usual thug-like manner.

Ignoring Alex's words, Layla put on a bored expression and said, "So you only brought those two to forcefully take me back to the U.S.?"

"Of course. I didn't really think I'd need more than two to take a scrawny girl back home," Alex replied, looking quite confident.

Layla sighed, shaking her head in obviously feigned pity and sadness. "If only that were true, Alex," was all she said before becoming stoic and cold once again and lunging at Alex. She altered her course at the last second, aiming a punch at one of the older guys behind the genius. Her fist collided with his palm and he held her there while swinging the pipe he held in his other hand at her stomach. She grabbed the pipe with her free hand easily, yanking it out of his grip when he was too stunned to function and swinging it at his head. He blocked with an arm, now aiming a punch at the girl's stomach. She managed to block with her free arm, but she didn't see the pipe heading for the back of her knees. The object hit with a dull thud, and Layla's legs gave, allowing the unarmed guy to take his weapon back as she fell to her knees.

Both of the older boys swung their pipes at Layla's head, each coming from a different side. Luckily for Layla, she wasn't dumb enough to just sit there and let them knock her out. She threw herself backward at the last moment, ending up in a bridge position, enabling her to watch the two pipes collide with a loud clang. She then forced her legs up, kicking the weapons directly out of their owners' hands before putting herself in a handstand. She flipped back onto her feet and caught the pipes with ease as they came back down, hoping like hell that no one was focusing on what was up her skirt. She reeeeally didn't want anyone to see her black underwear... For obvious reasons.

She brushed her red bangs back from her face, her cold blue-gray eyes focusing on her two opponents.

_Wait... Two opponents...?_ The girl looked around, trying not to panic. _Where's Ale-?_ Her thoughts were cut short by a kick to the back that sent her to her knees. The pipes nearly slipped from her shock-slackened grip, but she tightened her hold on them before they could get away. She then spun around while getting to her feet, aiming a pipe at Alex's head without even being completely sure it was him. She was right, but he ducked down to avoid the weapon and tried to sweep kick her legs out from beneath her. She jumped up just in time to avoid the kick, only to be knocked out of the air by one of the older thugs.

She hit the ground with a pained grunt, the pipes finally slipping from her fingers and hitting the shoe-clad feet of two of the many people hovering over her. She got to her knees slowly and looked up at the people to whom these feet belonged.

"Damn it. You shouldn't be here yet," she blurted, shocked to see the Lyoko warriors staring down at her, most of them appearing concerned.

"Oh, so these are your little friends, then, Layla?" Alex said, sounding smug as he took a few steps closer to the kneeling girl.

"Don't say a word, Alex," Layla growled threateningly while getting to her feet, turning to put her back to the Lyoko gang.

"Oh, why not? You'll never see them again, anyway." Alex smirked, then began to say, "Layla here's a-"

Hurriedly, before Alex could be the one to tell everyone her secret, Layla stated, "I'm a gang leader. Soon to be an ex-gang leader." She glared at Alex. "I'm not going back."

"Yes, you are," the boy retorted, glaring right back at the redhead.

"No, she's not," Ulrich said, taking a step forward in order to stand to Layla's left.

"If she doesn't wanna go back, then she doesn't have to go back," Odd added, moving to stand to Layla's right.

Both Alex's and Layla's eyes widened as the rest of the gang gradually worked up the courage to stand up for the girl.

"She's going to stay right here with us," Yumi stated, nodding while standing behind Layla and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"She deserves nothing less than a good home and people to care for her," Aelita chimed in from where she stood next to Jeremy.

"Besides, she could do much more good here than anywhere else," Jeremy piped up with a single nod.

Layla didn't really get what he meant, but judging by the grins the others were wearing, it was something good, and something they had argued about for a while.

"Yep! So just get out of here before we have to hurt ya," Odd said brightly, smiling at Alex and his chronies.

The brunette stared at the group of strangers backing Layla for a moment, wide-eyed and utterly shocked, then he looked down, defeated, and said, "Let's go." The trio retreated with their tails between their legs, vanishing into the darkness to find something else to do.

"Well, at least we didn't have to resort to switchblades," Layla muttered. When she looked around and saw all the surprised expressions everyone had on their faces, she added loudly, "Which I do not own three of."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yumi asked while watching Layla sit on Jeremy's bed, cross-legged.

The redhead shrugged and looked down at the floor, trying to ignore the fact that everyone in the room was staring at her. "I've done some bad things, I've dealt with some bad people, I _am_ a bad person. I didn't want you to know that," was her explanation.

"You're not a bad person," Ulrich stated.

"Yes. Everyone does bad things. That doesn't necessarily make them bad people," Aelita agreed with a single nod, sitting beside Layla on the bed.

"Have any of you ever killed anyone?" Layla asked, causing everyone to immediately become shocked and scared. She looked up with a smirk. "Well, that's good, 'cause I haven't killed anyone, either." With a sigh, she looked sadly down at the ground. "I've only come incredibly close on several different occassions."

"Did those people deserve it?" Jeremy asked, receiving a shrug from Layla.

"Some did, some didn't," the girl stated. "All of them were caused by rage blackouts."

"Rage blackouts?" Ulrich asked.

Layla nodded. "Rage blackouts, blind rage, whatever you wanna call it. It's where one gets so angry they pretty much blackout and do whatever their instincts tell them to. In my case, instinct tells me to beat the hell out of whoever pissed me off."

"Is that why you almost hit me?" Aelita questioned softly from her spot on the bed beside the redhead.

Layla slowly nodded once more. "Yes. I had some control of it then, though, so I managed to keep myself from hurting you, making you a very, very lucky girl." She looked around at all of the people staring at her. "By the way, if I ever do happen to snap, be sure to pry me off of whoever I happen to start beating to death. That's the only way you can really stop me."

Everyone nodded, then silence fell across the small room, broken moments later by a question from Odd.

"So, when are we gonna let her into the club?" he asked Jeremy, smiling.

At this, Layla arched a thin red eyebrow. "Club...?"

Her question went unheard as Jeremy said, "I don't really think we should let her in at all. Not this soon, anyway."

Layla sighed and rolled her gray-blue eyes. _I just love it when people talk about me like I'm not even here._

"But she's proven herself trustworthy," Ulrich stated, looking over at Jeremy

The blond shook his head and said, "No, she hasn't. She'll have to do a lot more to help us if she wants to be considered trustworthy enough to be one of us."

The way he phrased this made Layla arch an eyebrow. "You guys aren't vampires or something, are you?" she asked wryly as she looked from one person to the next in the crowded room.

Everyone stared at her for a moment, then they all began laughing simultaneously.

"No," Yumi managed to get out between laughs.

"We aren't vampires or anything. We're just humans," Jeremy threw in around his own loud laughter.

"What exactly do you mean by 'one of us,' then?" Layla questioned, obviously rather lost.

The laughter slowly died away, and Odd just grinned. "You'll see."

"Shouldn't we be getting to our own rooms now?" Aelita said after a moment of somewhat awkward silence.

"Yeah." Yumi seemed to be more serious now, appearing to be a little worried, too. "I was supposed to be home a while ago."

A chorus of byes could be heard as everyone left the room, Layla still looking rather confused as she walked.

-

The next day, Layla talked to the gang of suspected vampires a little bit in the morning and during lunch, although nothing of importance was ever said. Everyone learned that Layla's favorite color was red and that she hated anything related to math in any way, shape, or form, but since when were such things really 'important'? It wasn't until after school that something of slight importance happened.

Aelita was walking past Layla's room, minding her own business, when she heard something. It sounded like music...Violin music...

She paused, made sure she wasn't hearing things, then cautiously moved closer to the door. Pressing her ear against the wooden surface, she listened intently to the elegant violin music. The song was slow and sad, but undeniably beautiful. Every note was perfectly in tune, played at just the right volume for just the right amount of time, until...

"Son of a bitch!" Layla yelled, the music stopping after a note that was only the slightest bit flat was played.

Aelita opened the door slowly and peeked into the room. There Layla stood, right next to the window, a violin resting on her shoulder, a bow in her right hand, and a stand with a few pages of sheet music on it in front of her.

"It's an E _natural_, Layla," she growled to herself, glaring at her music and not even noticing Aelita. "Not an E flat. Play it right."

She let her bow rest on one of the violin's strings, calmed herself, then began to play again. After only a few slow, sad notes, her slightly angry expression vanished, turning into a peaceful one that had an openness the ever-closed Layla wouldn't want anyone to see. She reached the part where she had messed up the first time and played it correctly, soon finding herself at a part full of quicker sixteenth notes. As she played the swift notes, a slight smile graced her lips, which she didn't even seem to notice.

Her calm look turned angry after another slightly flat note, her bow stopping suddenly. "Oh, come on! This is easy stuff! Why do I keep screwing up?!"

Aelita shifted slightly, and Layla instantly turned to look at her, slightly surprised. She stared at the pink-haired girl for a moment, then asked, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Since you last yelled at yourself," Aelita answered simply. "You play very well, by the way."

"Thanks, but that's not true," Layla said as she turned back to her music, glaring at it. "I'm terrible."

"No, you're not. A few mistakes don't make you terrible." Aelita stepped into the room, closing the door behind herself.

"They do if you're a perfectionist," the violinist sighed. Then, before Aelita could say anything, she began playing again, this time playing the whole thing straight through without any mistakes, although she made sure to keep her expression emotionless as she played.

"An audience makes you even better, apparently," Aelita said with a smile once the song was over.

"I guess so." Layla shrugged, now looking over at Aelita. When the girl didn't say anything, Layla asked, "Did you want something, or did you just come here to stare at me?"

"Neither, but I'll leave if you want me to."

"Please do."

Aelita left the room without a word, thinking that Layla was a very rude person.

-

The next morning, Layla found herself wishing she had told Aelita not to tell anyone about her violin-playing skills.

"So, Aelita tells us you play the violin," Ulrich said casually.

"Are you any good?" Odd threw in just as casually.

The redhead rolled her eyes and said, "Nope. Not at all. Now shut up."

"Oh, come on. You can't be all _that_ bad," Odd continued, not realizing that this was a subject Layla really wanted to change now. "Maybe you could play for us somet-"

"No. Not going to happen. Now shut. Up," the girl said slowly, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"But you co-"

Layla spun, her dark skirt flaring as she aimed her fist at Odd's face. She stopped just before she hit him, instead flicking his nose lightly as she leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Shut. Up."

She then turned and walked away, not realizing that she had just scared the hell out of everyone.

At lunch, she sat down with Ulrich and the others, cocking her head when nobody even looked at her.

"Um...What the hell?" she asked, glancing at everyone. No one responded, causing her to growl. "Fine." Leaving her lunch there, she got up and went outside.

"Freaking assholes...What the hell did I ever do to them?" she mumbled as she walked aimlessly along a deserted path, unconsciously heading toward the park.

The badass jumped when she heard a soft noise to her left. She instantly turned toward the sound, tense and ready to slaughter...an innocent white cat. She rolled her eyes at herself and relaxed, deciding that the pretty animal wasn't out to get her.

"And what, might I ask, would one such as yourself be doing out here?" Layla asked the cat as she kneeled down a few feet away from where it stood beside a bush and held out one pale, long-fingered hand.

Its white fur was dirty and its small ribs were visible, signifying that the poor thing had been stuck without a home for at least a few days now. It approached her outstretched hand cautiously, sniffing her fingertips. When it smelled the scent of food on her light skin, it immediately began to lick her fingers, ravenous.

When its teeth sank into her finger, she pulled her hand back and said, "My hand is not food, child." She could see the cat's pink nose twitching as it continued to smell the food she had recently touched, causing her to sigh. "Wait here," she told the animal, standing up. "I'll bring you some real food."

She began to walk away, the kitty immediately disobeying her orders and beginning to follow. She just sighed again and kept walking. Not like she could do anything about it now...

The animal had to stay outside when the cafeteria door was slammed in its face, though.

Without a word, Layla took what remained of the food on her tray, not looking at any of the people staring at her as she did so. She then turned and walked back out of the building, heading toward the park once more with the cat following close behind.

Once the girl had reached the spot where she had first met her new friend, she carefully crouched down, putting the food down on the ground before the cat. The starved creature began to devour the food without bothering to inspect it first.

While the cat ate, Layla sat down on the ground, pulling her knees up to her chest and not caring that anyone who walked by could easily see up her skirt.

"I should name you," the girl muttered, watching the cat thoughtfully. After a few seconds, she listed a few names. "Snowflake, Snowball, Whiskers, Sally...Maybe I should see whether you're a girl or not before I decide on a name." She checked, which annoyed the kitty, who was still trying to eat, and found out that it was indeed a female. "Hm...How about...um..." She looked at the cat's white fur, pink nose, and pretty blue eyes, and eventually said, "Screw it. I'm calling you Gorgeous." The cat didn't react to this, merely continuing to eat what it had been given.

Several minutes later, the food was finally gone, and Gorgeous was gazing up at Layla's face with those pretty blue eyes of hers.

"You probably need something to drink now, huh? Damn it...Why didn't I think of that while I was getting you food?"

The cat hissed suddenly, surprising Layla. It hadn't wanted to be all bitchy to her before, and she had brought it food, so why would she get all mean and hateful now? That's when Layla realized the cat was looking over her shoulder, not at her face.

A large hand was suddenly placed over the girl's mouth, another one going around her waist and hauling her to her feet. She managed to get away from the hand for just long enough to let out a loud shriek that sounded more angry than frightened. That was the last thing she remembered before a sudden pain erupted in the back of her head and the world went dark.

-

Everyone sitting in the lunch room paused, falling silent for a moment. What sounded like a distant scream faintly reached their ears. The sound cut off suddenly, and everyone went back to talking and eating and having a good time.

Everyone but the Lyoko warriors, anyway.

Jeremy was staring blankly at the screen of his laptop, having frozen when that scream had started. "Activated tower," he managed to get out after a moment, beginning to focus once more. He looked around at his friends. "Who's going to the factory with me and who's going to go investigate that scream?"

"I'll investigate the scream," Odd stated.

Jeremy nodded. "All right. Everyone else can come with me, then." He closed his laptop and put it back in his bag before standing up. "Let's get going."

Everyone quickly left the building, Odd splitting from the group after a moment. As they all went along, they couldn't help but wonder..._Was that Layla?_

-

Layla opened her eyes and instantly found herself fighting back a groan of pain. Her head hurt like hell.

The redhead sat up, gently touching the source of the pain. She looked at her pale fingers, pleased to find that she wasn't bleeding or anything. She just had a small bump to deal with.

Her blue-gray eyes then began to take in her surroundings slowly.

She seemed to be in a factory of some sort. She was sitting on cool concrete, located right beside the closed doors of some weird elevator or something. She looked up and found a couple of ropes hanging from the ceiling a few feet away, next to a ledge high above her head.

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered to herself as she carefully got to her feet, every movement making her head throb painfully.

She whipped around when she heard the sound of echoing footsteps behind her, finding Jim heading toward her. He had a weird look in his eyes, though, one that Layla couldn't remember seeing before, even though she had. The man suddenly broke into a sprint, so the girl spun around like instict told her to and did the same, running away from him.

She would've absolutely loooved to stay and fight with him, but she didn't stand a chance against him if he was crazed and she was unarmed.

_Why the hell did I stop keeping switchblades in my bra, anyway?_ the redhead wondered while darting up a random hallway. _One of those would be so damn useful right now..._

Suddenly, her legs were knocked out from under her, and she hit the floor with a soft grunt. She began kicking at whoever had a hold of her ankle, knowing that she needed to get the hell out of there sometime relatively soon.

It took several kicks to the face to get Jim to release her, but the second she was free, she lurched to her feet and took off again. She ran into a random room, slamming the door shut behind her. She quickly looked around, trying to locate something that could help her. A smirk made its way onto her face when her eyes landed on an old, rusty pipe laying on a rickety conveyor belt.

"Well, I just might survive, after all."

-

Jeremy was the first one to enter the factory, but the others weren't far behind him. The group quickly made its way down to the supercomputer and scanners, and soon enough, Jeremy was left alone in the factory.

Or so he thought.

Everything was fine for the first few minutes, but then the elevator doors opened, and there stood about five Jims, all with that strange symbol in their eyes. When they stepped out of the elevator, Jeremy managed to catch a glimpse of long red hair and familiar black boots.

"Layla!" he called, setting his headset down on his keyboard and springing to his feet, knowing he needed to either escape or get to Layla. Preferably both.

The girl's eyes snapped open the moment she heard her name, however, her fingers immediately closing around the pipe that was laying a few inches away from her. Jeremy's attention went back to the many Jims heading toward him as the redhead in the elevator got to her feet. She stopped to compose herself for a moment, then she ran past the group of men, sliding to a stop in front of them with her back to Jeremy.

"Keep doing whatever it was you were doing, Jeremy," she said calmly. "Just as long as it might help to stop this bit of weirdness, anyway."

"But what about y-?"

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself." She looked back at Jeremy, eyes fierce even as blood dripped down her cheek from a deep cut just below her eye. "Just hurry up and fix this."

Jeremy nodded and obediently sat back down, sliding his headset on. He called Odd and told him to come to the factory, although he didn't give him any details. He didn't have time to. All he said was that this was an emergency, and that they really needed Odd's help right now.

Layla wasn't even paying attention to Jeremy anymore. She was currently occupied with fighting five guys who were all twice her size, which was sooo not her idea of fun.

She leapt back when one of them tried to grab her, not realizing that she was pretty much throwing herself back into yet another one of the bastards. His arms wrapped around her tightly, pinning her arms to her sides and actually managing to keep her from breathing for a moment. With a growl, she threw her head back, slamming her aching skull into the guy's nose. He released her as blood began to flow from his nostrils, allowing her to spin around and slam the pipe she was holding into the side of his head. The sorry son of a female dog hit the floor, then suddenly seemed to explode into a million little pixels.

"Whoa..."

Layla gawked at where Jim had been for a few moments before snapping out of her weird little trance and turning to face the remaining Jims. She was picked up and thrown into a wall, not even getting a chance to react. Her back collided with the solid surface, causing the pipe to slip from her fingers and roll away. She let out a soft hiss as she slid to the floor, watching two Jims come toward her while the other two headed for Jeremy, who didn't even seem to notice.

She got to her feet quickly, ending up between Jeremy and the Jims again.

"You're so lucky I'm here," she stated as she got into a fighting stance, her gaze going from one Jim to the next and back around again slowly.

"I know," was all the blond boy said, too focused on his computer to notice that Layla was now unarmed and totally freaking screwed.

_Well, I can't really get rid of them all now, but I should be able to keep them away from Jeremy until help arrives..._ The girl glanced at the elevator doors, which were still open, and got an idea.

Swiftly, she landed a taunting blow to each of the Jims' faces, then spun to face them as she backed toward the elevator. Luckily, they took the bait and came after her.

Her back hit the elevator wall, and she soon found four Jims standing before her in the small space. She reached around them and slammed her fist into the button that she guessed made the elevator go...somewhere. The doors closed, trapping her with her opponents.

As the two parties stared at each other, Layla thought, _Oh, now what, genius? You managed to get them away from Jeremy, but what about you?!_

A hand grabbed her neck suddenly, making her unable to breathe as she was lifted into the air. This caused som serious deja vu, but Layla ignored it and focused on kicking at Jim's chest while clawing at his hand. This did no good, though, so she aimed her next kick at his face. He let go of her as blood began to gush from his nose, and she smirked.

_Damn, I'm good._

She kicked the man in the head as hard as she could, having to jump up to do so, and he fell to the ground, vanishing like the first one had.

Now the poor girl just had three Jims to deal with.

These ones didn't try to take her on one-on-one, though. They all came at her at once. One slammed her back into the wall while the other one began stomping on her body as soon as she had hit the floor, the last one joining in on the abuse after a moment and ramming his foot into her side.

The elevator stopped just as Layla leapt to her feet, blind rage beginning to take over. She barely noticed that she was now in the area where she had first woken up as she lunged at the Jims.

After that, she was gone. Couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel...Could only hit as fast and hard as humanly possible.

The next thing she knew, she was laying on the cool floor, panting while blood poured from several cuts she couldn't remember receiving. She hurt all over, especially around her stomach, where she had taken the most abuse in the elevator, but at least there weren't any Jims around anymore. Except for the one passed out on the floor a few feet away from her...

She disregarded that one and slowly rolled onto her stomach, wincing as she got to her hands and knees.

That's how she stayed for a moment, not moving until she heard a soft, "Layla...?"

When she looked up, she found Odd standing several feet away from her, looking both concerned and, sadly, a little bit scared.

The fear in his eyes only made her realize how much of a monster she really was, although she didn't look away.

"Sorry, Odd," she whispered hoarsely before falling unconscious once more.

"Tell them to hurry it up, Einstein!" Odd pretty much yelled into his phone as he fell to his knees beside Layla, who had a large shard of sharp glass rammed into her side and was well on her way to bleeding to death. "I don't care if they're having problems! Layla's bleeding to death here, and we need to go back in time!" And with that, the pissed off male hung up.

His eyes soon went from his phone to the bleeding girl laying on the floor in front of him.

"She got hurt protecting Jeremy...This should convince him to let her go to Lyoko with us sometime," he said to himself, obviously trying to find something good to say about the current situation. "She saved me and Kiwi once before, too, so if he doesn't let her join us now, he must be insane." He laughed weakly to himself. "Oh, wait. He already is insane."

He fell silent at that point, unable to come up with anything to say in order to amuse himself. He then realized that he should be helping Layla, but he didn't know whether pulling the glass out of her side would be wise or not, so all he could do was watch helplessly as her blood continued to pool on the floor around her.

Seconds later, she stopped breathing.

Odd went wide-eyed, unable to do anything for a moment, then he said, "Layla?" He shook her shoulder gently, as if that would wake her up or something. "Layla?!"

The red-haired girl didn't react. Then, suddenly, Odd felt himself returning to the past, hoping like hell that Layla didn't really just die on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Why do you think XANA went after her in the first place?" Yumi asked softly as she and the others stood around during the repeat of their morning, hoping to see some sign of Layla soon.

Everyone shrugged, although Jeremy said, "I think he might know that we want her to be on our side, so he's trying to get to her first."

"That makes sense," Aelita stated, nodding. She, Yumi, and Jeremy were the only ones involved in the conversation despite the fact that Ulrich and Odd were both standing right there.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Ulrich told Odd quietly.

Odd shook his head, still staring out into space like he had been since he'd joined the others earlier. "You weren't there, Ulrich. You didn't see her."

"Come on, Odd. She's Layla. I haven't even known her for a full week, and I can already tell you that she's too stubborn to actually..." Yumi trailed off, afraid to utter the word.

"Die?" Odd finished for her flatly. He glanced over at Yumi, all of his usual happiness gone from his expression. "You never know, Yumi." He then began staring straight ahead once more, just waiting and hoping.

Due to the fact that no one could think of anything else to say, they all just stood there, watching Odd silently. The moment his face lit up, they followed his gaze and found a familiar redhead walking toward them.

"Layla!" Odd cried as he threw his arms around the slender girl.

She stared at him for a few seconds, then she said simply, "You're in my bubble."

"Sorry," the boy said, releasing Layla and taking a step back.

"It's fine. But...why did you invade my bubble?"

"Because I...uh...I...like bubbles...?" Odd half asked.

Layla cocked an eyebrow. "Uh huh." She then looked around at the rest of the people and asked, "Have you guys ever thought about offering him to a circus? He'd fit in very well there."

"Yeah," Ulrich said, laughing. "We tried once, but they wouldn't take him."

"Huh...Rejected by the circus...You must be so proud," Layla stated, actually smiling the slightest bit. Before Odd could say anything, the bell rang, forcing everyone to make their way to their classes.

When lunch time rolled around, Layla found herself being dragged out of the cafeteria almost as soon as she had walked into the damned place. Yumi and Aelita were walking to either side of her, each holding on to one of her arms, and the guys were trailing behind them.

"Um...Where are we going?" Layla asked, allowing herself to be led toward the park.

"Somewhere," was Aelita's vague reply, said with a smile and a little giggle.

"Is there food at this somewhere? 'Cause I'm kinda hungry."

"You can eat later. This is more important," Yumi stated, smiling.

The group soon reached a manhole, and Ulrich calmly walked up to the thing and removed the cover. He then stood up and looked over at Layla. Gesturing to the sewer entrance, he said, "Ladies first."

Layla arched an eyebrow. "You want me to go down there...?"

"Of course," Aelita answered. She smiled and released Layla's arm, Yumi doing the same on the redhead's other side. "Just follow us." The two girls then calmly maneuvered themselves into the hole and climbed down.

Layla stared at the hole for a moment, then she sighed. "Ah, what the hell." And down she went. As she looked around, the boys came down after her, and she just had to ask, "So, why are we here?"

"You'll see," Yumi said. "Just keep following us." She and the others walked past the skateboards and scooters leaning against the tunnel wall, heading deeper into the sewer. Layla followed them with another little sigh.

Eventually, they climbed out of the sewer and onto a bridge leading to what looked like an old factory. Without a word, everyone kept walking, most of them seeming oddly giddy. Once they were inside the big building, they all took turns leaping out onto a few ropes and sliding down to the floor below. Layla followed without hesitation, being the last one to reach the ground.

It wasn't until they were inside some weird elevator that her head started hurting, feeling like it was liable to explode at any minute. She staggered slightly and leaned against the person closest to her, which happened to be Odd.

"Hey, Layla...Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah. Just a really bad headache," Layla said with a grimace. Everyone accepted that answer without a word.

A few seconds passed before the doors opened, revealing a computer sitting in a large, dimly lit room. Jeremy, Ulrich, and Aelita went into the room, but Odd and Yumi kept Layla in the elevator with them.

"Um..." was all Layla said as she cocked her head.

"Just come with us," Yumi told the girl, still smiling.

The elevator doors closed, soon to open once again. This time, Layla was allowed to exit the damned thing, though she found herself even more confused.

"What is this place?" she asked, looking at the three weird metal tubes situated around the room.

Ignoring her question, Odd said, "Get in one of those things."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Hesitantly, Layla did so, and Odd and Yumi each got into their own strange tubes. The doors slid shut, and Layla found herself thankful for her lack of claustrophobia.

"Just relax, Layla," Jeremy's voice said, echoing around the tube. As she tried to obey, some weird thing moved, as if it were scanning her body, and Jeremy said, "Scanner, Layla. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Yumi...Virtualization." A weird wind blew, forcing Layla to close her eyes as her hair whipped around wildly. When she opened her eyes, however, she found herself hurtling toward the ground. She just barely managed to land on her feet, wide-eyed.

"What the hell?!" she pretty much yelled as she stood from her crouched position, looking around. The place she was in now almost seemed like something one would see in a video game, not in real life. She soon found Odd and Yumi landing to either side of her, looking calm, as if they did this everyday.

With a laugh, Jeremy's voice said, "Welcome to Lyoko, Layla."

"Lyoko?" Layla asked, confused. What she received was a lengthy explanation in which the name XANA was mentioned a few times, as were the words tower and monsters. Once Jeremy stopped talking, Layla arched an eyebrow and said, "Okay, then...So, basically, you fight this guy and his monsters, both here and...in the real world?"

"Pretty much," Yumi answered while Odd just nodded.

"And I've...fought him in the real world before?"

"You've saved us from some of the things he's sent after us, yes," Jeremy replied. "Actually, last time, you almost..."

"Died," Odd finished for him flatly.

"Is that why you invaded my bubble earlier, Circus Boy? Because you thought I was dead?" Layla questioned, cocking an eyebrow once more.

Odd looked away and nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"Oh...Well...thank you for being worried, I guess," Layla said. She then fell silent, taking a moment to study herself. She looked down to find that she was wearing a pair of black boots similar to the ones she wore in the real world, a pair of tight-fitting black pants, and an equally tight-fitting black tank top. Her favorite part were the two thick black belts she saw creating an X around her hips. Both of the belts held sheaths for several shiny, black-handled and -bladed daggers. She pulled one of the weapons out of its sheath and whistled. "Me likey." She slid the knife back into its place and glared at the long strand of red that had fallen into her face. "I do not, however, like having my hair down." The layered red mess, as she called it, was out of its usual pigtails and falling straight to her waist.

"Why? It looks good down," Yumi stated, watching the redhead.

"No, it doesn't, and besides that, it gets in my way when its down." Layla sighed. "Ah, well. Can we, like...go back now? I really would like some food."

"Don't you want to look around some more or something?" Odd asked.

"Of course I do, but I'd rather do that when I'm not about to die of starvation." The girl glanced around and added, "I can come back some other time, right?"

"Mhm," Yumi answered, smiling and nodding.

"All right. I'll bring you guys back," Jeremy stated.

A few seconds later, the trio emerged from their scanners and headed for the elevator.

"You don't seem too shocked or anything," Yumi commented.

With a tired sigh, Layla let her head fall back so she could look up at the ceiling. "Not much can shock someone like me," was all she said, leaving Odd and Yumi slightly confused. Before they had the chance to ask what she meant, though, the doors opened and Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremy entered the elevator.

"How'd you like Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.

Layla shrugged. "I liked the sharp objects I was given, if that answers your question."

No one else spoke, and eventually, they were back at the park. The silence continued as they walked toward the school, though Layla stopped walking suddenly.

"What is it?" Aelita asked, watching the girl.

The redhead calmly pointed at a small, dirty white ball of fur in the bushes. "Cat." She stared at the sleeping animal for a moment longer, then she started walking again, muttering, "I'll have to bring it some food once I'm done eating."

About ten minutes later, she did as she said she would, eventually naming the starving animal Gorgeous. Again...And this time, with the help of the Lyoko warriors.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Layla shot up in bed as a loud clap of thunder shook the only window in her room. As she panted, she turned her wide-eyed gaze to the window, watching as another flash of lightning cast eerie shadows around her room. Large raindrops could soon be seen hitting the glass, the sounds of their soft pattering almost as unnerving to her as the thunder was.

Her body trembled violently as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, finding herself unable to stop her heavy breathing. She gripped her knees, ignoring her sweaty palms and allowing her nails to dig into her skin.

She let out a short, fearful scream at the next clap of thunder, surging to her feet and running toward the door. Her vision was blurred by tears now, her body shaking so badly that she could barely get her fingers to close around the doorknob. She managed to turn the handle just as the next flash of lightning lit up her room, and she was out the door before the thunder came. She sprinted in the direction of Aelita's room as quickly as she could, hoping to beat the big boom. She was about halfway to her destination when the loud clap finally came, sending her to her knees. She was nearly hyperventilating, but she tried to sing in spite of this as she got to her feet and began running again.

"When a storm begins in the clouds, it sometimes may look frightening. You see a quick electrical spark. Flash goes the lightning," she sang quietly in her shaky voice. The little rhyme was set to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel, and the childishness of it just didn't sound right coming from her. Then again, her fear of storms didn't seem too fitting, either. "Long and thin and streaky and fast, its glow is oh so brightening. Watch for the electric spark. Flash goes the lightning." She hurriedly wiped her tears away as she neared Aelita's room, hating herself for having such a ridiculous fear. "When a storm begins in the clouds, it truly is a wonder. You hear a rumble loud in the sky. Clap goes the thunder." She forced herself to slow to a walk now that the door to the pink-haired girl's room was in view, also trying to control her breathing. "Lightning bolts are heating the air, over clouds and under. When the air expands enough. Clap goes the-" Another loud clap of thunder cut her off, causing her to end her song with a scream just before she burst into Aelita's room.

She stopped dead as soon as she was in the room, cocking her head at the lack of a lump under the covers of the bed. Another flash of lightning lit up the space, showing that the bed was unmade and empty.

_Where could she have gone? _the redhead wondered. She pondered the possible answers to her question until the next clap of thunder came, forcing her to squeak and take off out of the room. Without really think, she made her way to Jeremy's room, which was one of the explanations she had come up with for Aelita not being in her own room, and stopped to frantically beat on the door. The moment it opened, she clung to the person standing before her, not caring that she was shaking and crying and making herself look like a wimpy idiot...until she realized that pretty much everyone that she could call her friend was sitting in there, watching her.

She immediately released what she now realized was Ulrich, instantly dropping her gaze to the floor and mumbling an insincere-sounding, "Sorry."

The male merely frowned, keeping his eyes on her face. "Are you all right?" he asked, noticing the tears slowly flowing from her gray-blue eyes.

She nodded, but proved that she was lying by screaming and clinging to him again when the next clap of thunder came. If she had been more calm, she probably would've been glad that Yumi wasn't around to see her hanging all over the guy she obviously had a thing for.

Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita all watched silently as Ulrich awkwardly patted Layla's back. "It's...um...all right...I guess..."

"No, it's not. I'm afraid of thunder," Layla stated, shaking her head and refusing to let go of the poor guy. "That is not all right."

"Yeah, it is. Everyone's afraid of something," Odd said while laying back on Jeremy's bed, his arms behind his head. "You just happen to be afraid of a loud, harmless noise. No big deal."

Layla's fear abandoned her for just long enough to allow her to send Odd a glare. "Thanks a lot, Odd. I really needed to be told that I'm a complete sissy," she hissed. Then, more thunder sounded, causing her to shriek and hide behind Aelita, who was sitting beside Odd on Jeremy's bed.

"He's right, though," Jeremy decided to add as he watched her. "Thunder is virtually harmless. The lightning that precedes it should be what you're afraid of."

"Don't you think I know that?!" Layla snapped, now glaring at the blond male.

He let out a nervous laugh and said simply, "Yeah...Sorry."

There was silence until the next clap of thunder shook the windows, this one even louder than the ones before it. This time, Layla whimpered, unconsciously moving onto Jeremy's lap and throwing her arms around him. He had his chair facing away from his computer desk, so it was easy for her to move to such a position.

"U-um," he stammered, blushing lightly. Aelita sent her the slightest glare, but she stopped a second later and began feeling bad about it. The poor girl was incredibly scared, and she didn't deserve to be glared at for it.

The lights went out after the next flash of lightning, and Layla screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Geez. Calm down, Layla," Odd commanded. He let out a cry of his own a moment later, feeling someone's teeth in his upper arm. "Ow!"

"Geez. Calm down, Odd," the redhead mimicked him after letting go of his arm.

"You're me-" He stopped when Layla clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Sh," she hissed, not moving her hand. She listened hard, seeming to hear something that no one else noticed. No matter how hard they tried, they could hear nothing but the sound of raindrops hitting the windows.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked once a full minute had passed.

"I don't know...Something...Something just doesn't seem right," Layla replied, finally moving her hand away from Odd's mouth. Before she could clarify, more thunder came, forcing her to whimper again and bury her face in Odd's neck. He did just as Ulrich had, awkwardly patting her back. Her tears fell onto his throat and slid down, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Suddenly, the girl moved away from Odd, turning toward the window slowly. She went wide-eyed and said, "What the-" She was cut off by a huge tree branch bursting through the window, creating a shower of glass and leaves. Everyone turned away from the barrage of glass shards, and Jeremy was knocked out of his chair. He hit the floor right on a few pieces of the glass, crying out as they embedded themselves in his arm. The branch wrapped itself around the boy's other arm and started to drag him toward the window, but Layla and Odd immediately rushed to grab his legs. They pulled with all of their might, but it did no good. They were just being dragged along with the boy they were trying to save.

Layla growled and let go of the leg she was holding, reaching down her shirt and pulling a switchblade out of her bra. She flicked it open and went for the branch, hoping it felt pain. Luckily, the tree seemed to let out a monstrous cry when she stabbed the branch. After a few more quick stabs, the limb released Jeremy and went back out the broken window quickly, allowing the boy to hit the floor. Somehow, he managed to land in a glass-free area, saving him a bit of pain.

"Come on, Jeremy," Aelita said as she pulled Jeremy to his feet. They were the first two to leave the room, Ulrich and Odd following immediately. Layla stared at the window for a moment before deciding to follow as well.

As the group sprinted down the hall, they could hear screams and the sounds of breaking glass everywhere. It seemed that most people were able to leave their rooms and flee, though, so nothing too bad could possibly be happening yet.

A rumble of thunder made Layla scream, her legs immediately giving out and leaving her to lay helplessly on the floor. Ulrich was the one who noticed first, and he swiftly returned for her and helped her to her feet.

"Come on, Layla," he urged, keeping a firm hold on her arm as he ran down the hall after Odd and the others.

"I'm sorry," the redhead said as she did her best to keep up with Ulrich. The fact that she was once again almost hyperventilating wasn't exactly helping her.

"Don't be," was the male's simple reply.

Soon, they were all outside in the rain, the wind whipping wildly. The whole scene seemed to be like something from a horror movie of some sort. Trees were moving all over the place, their roots acting as legs and their branches acting as arms. They all had a single eye high up on their trunks, containing a familiar symbol.

"XANA," Jeremy said, glaring at one of the trees. He then looked back at his friends. "Some of us need to get to the factory, and someone needs to stay here to get everyone to a safe place. Who's going to stay?"

"I will," Ulrich answered.

"Want me to stay, too?" Layla asked, a bit of worry entering her blue-gray eyes as she looked over at him. More thunder boomed as a result of a recent flash of lightning, and the girl could do nothing but squeak and try to hide behind Aelita.

"No. You need to go somewhere where the thunder can't get to you," Ulrich told her simply.

Layla glared at him, stepping out from behind Aelita. "Screw that. I-" Another loud boom had her behind Aelita again, shaking.

"Just go," Ulrich ordered.

"Fine," the redhead growled, glaring at him once more.

"Good luck, Ulrich!" Odd said before he and the others headed toward the park.

Layla stayed behind to stare at Ulrich for a moment, then she handed him her switchblade. "Don't die," she said. Then, she went after Jeremy, Odd, and Aelita, forcing herself to avoid glancing back at the brunette they were all leaving behind.

-

The wind and dagger-like rain made running hard, but going through the tunnels was easy, so the Ulrich-less group reached the factory soon enough. Jeremy was left with his precious computer while everyone else went to be sent to Lyoko. They arrived in the virtual world quickly, and Layla greatly appreciated the lack of thunder there.

The red-haired girl simply followed Odd and Aelita through the Desert Sector as they all listened to Jeremy, who was currently telling them where to go. Layla didn't fully understand what he was talking about, so following the others was the best she could do.

Everything was completely fine until Jeremy said something about a group of Blocks heading their way. That was when Odd looked back at Layla with a smile and said, "Get ready."

Layla watched Aelita glance at the strange tower thing ahead of them, then hide behind a rock. "Get ready for what?" the redhead asked, looking at Odd. The male smirked and gestured to the four block things now blocking their path to that tower.

"That," he said simply. He then charged right at the things, dodging lasers while firing arrows from his gloves. One of the Blocks exploded a moment later, and the other three just continued to fire at Odd. Layla slid a few of her black-handled and -bladed daggers out of the sheathes in the belts around her waist, then she followed Odd, hoping her knife-throwing skills were as good in Lyoko as they were in the real world.

She threw one of her daggers at the Block in the center of the little line-up, but the weapon was quickly knocked aside by a laser. She tossed two more, and they met the same fate, but at least she'd managed to distract the monster for long enough to get closer to it. She leapt up into the air, landing on top of the Block and quickly leaning over, stabbing the last dagger she had in her hand into one of the thing's eyes. She then jumped back, getting off of the monster just in time to be missed by the debris from its explosion.

"Nice job, Layla," Odd praised the girl happily as he finished off another one of the Blocks. There was only one left now, and the female immediately pulled out a few more knives and went after it.

"Be careful with those," Jeremy told her as she threw a couple of the daggers, watching as they both got knocked aside by laser blasts. "You have a very limited supply of them."

"How limited are we talking?" she asked while tossing another one at the monster.

"About eight in each belt."

"Sixteen? That's not too limited." She was too distracted by talking to notice a laser heading directly for her, so she was unable to dodge it. It collided with her shoulder and knocked her on her ass, leaving her to sit there and wince for a moment. "How irritating," she growled, getting to her feet as she watched Odd take out the stupid thing while it was distracted by her.

"The coast is clear, Aelita. You can head for the tower," Jeremy said, ignoring poor Layla's pain.

Odd walked over to the redhead while the other girl ran to the tower, soon disappearing into it. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Layla answered before saying, "That was actually kinda fun."

He grinned. "It always is."

A moment after this had been said, Layla and Odd found themselves returning to the past, soon having to relive that normal, boring day with all of their friends.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Why are you so afraid of thunder?" Ulrich asked as they sat at lunch on Friday.

Layla shrugged, looking down at her food and just poking at it with her fork. "I don't know." She looked up with a glare, glancing around at her friends. "And I swear to God, if any of you make fun of me for it or let anyone else know about it, I will _kill _you."

Silence was all she got in reply to that.

She dropped her gaze back to her food, sighing. The others glanced at one another, trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She seemed almost...sad now. Yet no one could figure out why.

"Are you going to eat any of that?" Odd asked after watching her silently poke at her food for another minute.

Layla shook her head and got to her feet, not looking at anyone. "No, but I'm sure Gorgeous wouldn't mind some of this..." She poked the meat-like substance on her tray and made a face. "Whatever this is." She put it on a napkin, shoved her tray toward Odd, then walked out of the cafeteria.

It was a beautiful day outside, nothing but sun and light, pleasant breezes. A sigh escaped the red-haired girl as she neared the place where she figured her cat would be. The shadows of the trees, their branches swaying slightly in the wind, danced around slowly, moving at a nice, lazy tempo. This, combined with the quiet whispers of rustling leaves, created a rather relaxing atmosphere, and somehow, it only served to make Layla feel oddly empty inside.

"Hey, Gorgeous," the girl called once she was standing by the bushes in which she'd first spotted the cat. "Are you still here?" A soft meow let her know that her baby was indeed still there, and a small smile made its way onto her face.

The little white creature came trotting happily out from behind a tree, and Layla was pleased to see that she no longer looked so thin and sickly. Her fur was still a bit dirty, but giving a cat a bath didn't sound too fun, so Layla planned to ignore it. The cat would just clean herself up sometime if she really wanted to look presentable.

The redhead kneeled down when the cat was a foot or so away from her, carefully placing the food on the ground. The animal hurried forward and began to eat rapidly, as if it were still ravenous.

Silently, Layla watched the cat, though her gaze soon went unfocused. No longer did she see her new pet, nor did she even see the trees or the sunlight around her. In place of all this was just one boy, one lanky, brown-haired, twelve-year-old boy. He had eyes the color of a clear midday sky and the kind smile only a brother could have for his sister. But he didn't even have a sister.

"He'd be sixteen by now," the girl murmured to herself, the image in her head disappearing. She smiled to herself almost bitterly. "And I would be with him. That storm would've been nothing if he were still here."

"Who?"

Layla spun, standing even as she turned. Her narrowed, angry eyes soon landed on Yumi's curious face, though her anger never even faltered.

"No one," she answered rather coldly.

"It must be someone," the other female argued, frowning. "People don't usually mutter about things that don't exist."

Frustrated, Layla turned to look back at her cat, only to find that she was gone. She looked down at the greasy napkin instead, just so she wouldn't have to face Yumi. "He's gone now, so he's no one. It's none of your business, anyway." She grew tense in the silence that followed, expecting Yumi to try to pry.

"All right," the girl said, shocking Layla into moving to look at her again. Noticing the surprised, somewhat confused expression the redhead wore, Yumi shrugged. "You're right. It's none of my business." She paused, then added, "But, if you ever want to talk about it for some reason..." She trailed off, and Layla nodded silently, regaining her usual look of indifference. "Good. Wanna start walking to class? It wouldn't hurt to be early."

Slowly, Layla nodded again. "Sure. Let's go."

Yumi smiled. "Okay." And with that, they both began walking in a comfortable silence.

It only lasted for a minute or so, however, and Layla, oddly enough, was the one to break it. "He was like a brother to me," she whispered, her eyes on the ground at her feet. "His name was..." She swallowed and bit her lip, unable to continue for a moment. "His name was Jonathan Jones. I called him Sly."

After another few seconds of silence, Yumi decided to ask, "What happened to him?"

Layla clenched her fists, though her voice remained soft and even. "A rival gang got to him. And his three brothers, one of whom was the leader of their own gang. I...took his place shortly after his death." She smiled again, the same, bitter smile as before. "The rival gang fell a week later."

Yumi looked at her as that familiar silence resumed, feeling strangely privileged for getting to hear about just that small part of the American's past. She thought she understood her a bit better now, too. Whether she thought right or not was questionable.

Layla brought a palm up so she could look at it, her eyebrows raised in cool surprise. "Huh...Nasty habit I'm developing..." Blood was dripping from the small cuts her nails had made on her hand. It wasn't much, but the wounds still stung a bit. A look at her other hand revealed the same damage. She shrugged it off, though, her bloody hands soon hanging at her sides and her gray-blue eyes on the path ahead. She'd just clean herself up when they got to class.

-

"You guys should come play with us for once," Ulrich stated as he kicked a soccer ball Odd's way. The ball was soon headed toward Jeremy's head, and in a very un-goalie-like move, he ducked, letting it meet the netting at the back. "It's boring with just the three of us, and everyone else is busy enjoying their Friday."

Yumi stared at Ulrich for a moment, silently mulling over his request. She finally looked over at Layla and Aelita, and, at the girls' shrugs, she smiled. "All right. We'll play. Not like there's anything else to do." All three of the females stood and made their way down to the field, where the boys had all gathered by Jeremy's goal.

"So...who's being the goalie for which team?" Yumi asked. "Better yet, who's going to be on which team?"

"Why don't we just go with guys against girls?" Odd suggested, grinning at the thought. "We'd wipe the floor with you, of course, but it's the easiest way to separate ourselves."

Layla cocked an eyebrow. "Youthink _you_ can beat _me_?"

"Mhm," Odd replied brightly.

"We'll see." Layla glanced at the other two females. "I refuse to be a goalie. I want to be on the field with this idiot."

The girls couldn't help but smile at her. "All right," Aelita said. "I'll be the goalie."

"Are you going to be ours, Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "I guess so."

"Will you actually try this time, too?" Odd questioned teasingly. "I don't want to lose just because you're afraid of a ball."

Jeremy scowled at him. "I'll try."

"Well, there we go. Let's get this started." Layla flashed the males a cocky smile, then they all went to their places.

"First team to make five goals wins?" Ulrich asked as they all stared at the ball, their gazes oddly predatory.

"Sure," Yumi said while the others merely nodded.

"All right."

There was a shout, and then, the game was on.

Yumi managed to snag the ball first, kicking it right out of Ulrich's path. She dribbled the ball like a pro, getting it halfway to the goal before one of the boys got it back. Ulrich was the one who managed this challenging feat, soon having the ball headed in the opposite direction across the field. When he noticed Layla getting closer to him, he gave the ball a quick, hard kick, sending it toward Aelita. The girl went wide-eyed as it headed directly for her face, instinct causing her to dodge instead of block. A cheer went up from the boys as it hit the net.

"It's all right, Aelita," Yumi called to the amateur goalkeeper, noticing her guilty frown. "It's just one goal. We can still win without much trouble."

A moment later, the game was underway again.

Yumi got the ball again, but only for a few seconds. Ulrich soon stole it and began to move quickly away from the goal Jeremy was guarding. Aelita looked determined as she watched the male approach, seeming ready to actually do something this time. She never got the chance, however, for Ulrich never got to take the shot. The ball seemed to disappear from the grass in front of him when he prepared to aim for the goal.

"What the-" He turned to find Layla moving off with it, that cocky smirk on her face once more.

"Ulrich!" Odd yelled. "How could you let her-"

"Just shut up and stop her!" Ulrich retorted angrily.

It was too late to do anything, though. Layla had already sent the ball toward the goal.

Jeremy moved into the ball's path, gulping. It was moving far too quickly, and he had a feeling this was going to hurt. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited, and, sure enough, he ended up hitting the net in the ball's place. A dull sting started in his chest and fingers. Apparently, he'd tried to catch the ball...kind of.

Layla glared at the boy on the ground, having expected him to wuss out and move again. The sounds of Ulrich and Odd praising him reeeeally weren't doing anything to help the girl's competitive anger.

"Yeah, yeah," she nearly growled. "He got it. Woo. Let's just get back to playing the damned game."

And they did.

Layla got to the ball first this time. She was getting aggressive, nearly knocking Ulrich over when she started toward Jeremy's goal again. The brown-haired male looked slightly stunned by her ferocity, though he went after her nonetheless.

Odd eased up alongside the seemingly dangerous female, watching her movements carefully as he prepared to take the ball. When he finally found the opening he'd been waiting for, he tried to snag it, but Layla was too fast. She actually tried to prevent it. But in the process of trying to stop him, she ended up tripping over his foot, and he ended up tumbling over her.

The game stopped right then. Anger had Layla on top of Odd in a heartbeat, straddling him in a way that had her skirt hiked up to show a bit of red underwear. Her gray-blue eyes, narrowed and almost frightening in their anger, were locked with his. Her hands were on his shoulders, pinning them in case he tried to struggle. Luckily, that also kept her from being able to hit him.

Silence.

They both panted lightly, though nothing was said. They merely looked at each other. Then, finally, she spoke.

"You're a jerk."

"I'm not the one holding an innocent guy down," he replied with a cautious smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Layla leaned down, putting her face closer to his, their noses nearly touching. "Yes, but you are the one who knocked an innocent girl down."

His smile grew the slightest bit. "Nah. You did that to yourself."

The tension eased, but their friends didn't know that. They stood a safe distance away and watched with bated breath, just waiting for Layla to kill poor Odd.

"Hm...I suppose you have a point there." Layla removed one of her hands from Odd's person, an elbow soon on the ground by his head and her hand a fist for her head to rest on. Now, one grayish eye was even with a darker one, two pale cheeks only an inch away from touching. "But still. You started it."

"I was just playing the game."

"I know."

Silently, they gazed at each other. Their audience now looked more confused than worried, but Layla didn't think she could care any less about them at the moment. She was busy.

"Would you like to play another game sometime?" she asked, her voice a murmur only Odd could hear.

"Depends...What kind of game?" If it was the kind of game his dirty mind thought it was, he'd be more than happy to play. He was good at those games.

"You can fight a bit, right? Nothing special, like Ulrich and Yumi, but enough to pose a bit of a threat to others?"

Now he found himself hoping it wasn't anything like the games he was thinking. That would be extremely weird. "I'd say so."

Layla altered her position, now holding herself over the boy with a hand to either side of his head. Their faces were still a bit closer than necessary, however. "Want to spar sometime?"

Odd arched an eyebrow at the randomness of the question. Why was she asking such a thing now, in the middle of a game of soccer? "Um...Sure. If you really want to."

"All right." And with that, Layla stood, giving Odd a very traumatic look at her pretty red panties before she stepped over him, walking toward the edge of the field. He sat up slowly and watched her. "Sorry, guys. My temper got the best of me...again. I'll see you later."

Everyone's attention went from the girl to Odd when they realized she was leaving, the same question written on every face: What the hell? Odd could only shrug. He didn't really have a clue, either.

That girl was strange...


End file.
